Tofu Crumbles (Vegetarian "Hamburger")

I had to go on an "elimination diet" for IBS recently, so had to give up certain soy products - apparently textured soy protein and soy milk can cause digestive upset, but not tofu. So I had to give up the beloved Morningstar crumbles that I'd used prolifically in casseroles and sauces. I've discovered that tofu makes a nice substitute for use in such dishes as spaghetti sauce, ﻿shepherd's pie﻿, and sloppy Joe's. I found the original recipe on the Glow Kitchen site. Note (January 14, 2016) - I just found a similar version on the "It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken" that skips the almond butter and adds oil instead - it's good, too!

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tbsp almond butter

black pepper to taste

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tub tofu, frozen and thawed

Oil for greasing baking sheet

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix soy sauce, almond butter, and spices in a bowl, set aside.

Drain water from thawed tofu. Place between two plates and hold the plates over the sink. Press plates together, then dump liquid into sink. Repeat until no more liquid can be squeezed out of the tofu. Crumble the tofu into a large bowl. Add soy sauce mixture and stir to cover all pieces of tofu.

Grease baking sheet and spread tofu evenly onto the sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes. Stir tofu, making sure it is spread evenly across the sheet after stirring. Continue baking for an additional 10-15 minutes, until tofu is firm and browned. Be careful, it burns easily!